Greetings, I'm wondering if anyone has used 3D open source software, such as Blender, to create 3D models for plants, based on 2D images and/or field measurements.
I'm working on a project assessing the use of different shrub-willow species for living snow fences. One of the goals of my project is to predict how well these shrubs capture snow. Traditionally, the height and porosity (percentage of open space in a linear shrub row when faced at a right angle) of a snow fence are used to predict its snow storage capacity. A few windbreak scientists have criticized this porosity method, however, as it is only a 2D view of the snow fence and does not accurately describe how wind, and thus snow, move through a 3D plant. I'm only aware of a few papers describing 3D models for windbreaks, for which the measurements are often destructive to the planting and species-specific. I've recently become aware of 3D imaging with open source software and am curious if anyone has experience using this for estimating plant 3D structure. I appreciate any comments/suggestions. Thank you, Eric Ogdahl Research Assistant Natural Resources Science & Management University of Minnesota-Extension [email protected] | 651-319-1022
